From Ireland, Scotland, and Portugal to Berga: International urban artist Slim Safont exhibits in his Catalan hometown

Slim Safont is an international urban artist whose large-scale works appear on building walls in countries such as Ireland, Scotland, Portugal, the United States, Russia and Sweden.

He will now exhibit 45 of his pieces, including photos, paintings, and sketches, in his hometown of Berga, in the north of Catalonia.

The goal is to explain each picture and "the stories behind each project," he told the Catalan News Agency (ACN) during a visit to the exhibit.

His creative process starts from speaking with locals where the picture will be located, to understand its surroundings, and he documents the entire process with photos.

Born in 1995, Slim Safont, the artistic name of Nil Safont, presents his newest exhibition 'Una història per explicar' (A Tale to be Told), showcasing international works from his career across 18 countries.

Safont's creative process has always been guided by his "gut." Over the last seven years, "everything has happened very fast." He started painting graffiti on the streets of Berga, and then became interested in mural painting, both classical and modern.

Slim Safont started by using pictures found online, before realizing that "it was much more interesting to use my own photographs," he told ACN. Since then, he has focused on documenting the subjects that interest him most, such as youth, childhood and adolescence.

"I combine these topics with landscapes or spaces that look visually fascinating," he said, adding that he also takes into account colors, shadows, and light composition.

One of his most significant moments was a trip to the United States, where he started taking pictures and then painting them on building walls. "I painted four different murals in one month, and it helped me to work on my creative process," he told ACN.

The other moment was a trip to Russia, where he painted a 60-meter mural with a "great impact."

Berga City Council stresses the importance of highlighting one of its local artists with “the most international reach.” Berga's Councilor for Youth, Isaac Santiago, said the exhibition aims to showcase "young talent" and to praise an artist creating art "around the world."

The exhibition opens on Saturday and runs until March.